Mobile terminal device and display method of mobile terminal device

ABSTRACT

A mobile terminal device includes a display section having a display surface for displaying a screen including information, an accepting section which accepts a moving operation for moving the screen, and a display control section which controls the display section based on the moving operation. When the moving operation for moving an end of the screen inside the end of the display surface is performed, the display control section controls the display section so that the screen is deformed to a moving direction of the screen in a direction of movement of the screen by the moving operation.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/333,800, filed on Dec. 21, 2011, which claims priority under 35U.S.C. Section 119 of Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-287959 filedDec. 24, 2010, entitled “MOBILE TERMINAL DEVICE”. The disclosure of theabove applications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device such as amobile phone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and a display methodof the mobile terminal device.

2. Disclosure of Related Art

Conventionally, in a mobile terminal device, when a user performs apredetermined input operation using a touch panel, for example, a datafile corresponding to the input operation is read from a memory, and animage representing contents of the data file (hereinafter, referred toas a “contents image”) is displayed on a display surface. At this time,when a data amount of the data file is large and a range of the contentsimage is larger than a range of the display surface, images displayablewithin the range of the display surface are extracted from the contentsimage, and the extracted partial images are displayed on the displaysurface. When the user performs a predetermined moving operation on thetouch panel, a position of the contents image moves with respect to thedisplay surface according to the moving operation. For example, when theoperation is performed so that the contents image moves to a left side,a portion on a right side with respect to the portion of the contentsimage displayed on the display surface is displayed on the displaysurface. When a right end of the contents image arrives at a right endof the display surface, even if the user tries to further move thecontents image left, the contents image does not move left because noimage is present on the right side of the right end of the contentsimage.

Thus, when the end of the contents image arrives at the end of thedisplay surface, the contents image does not move according to theuser's moving operation. However, also when the user's moving operationis not accepted by the touch panel, the contents image does not move andis paused. Therefore, when the contents image does not move, the userdoes not clearly understand whether the end of the contents imagearrives at the end of the display surface or the moving operation is notaccepted.

In the mobile terminal device where the contents image moves (scroll) onthe display surface, when an image that should be displayed on thedisplay surface is present on an upper side or a lower side of the imagedisplayed on the display surface, for example, a constitution such thata mark is displayed on an upper part or a lower part of the displaysurface may be employed. In such a mobile terminal device, when a markis displayed on the display surface, the user understands that an imageto be displayed on the display surface is present outside the displaysurface, and thus the end of the contents image does not arrive at theend of the display surface.

In the above constitution, however, when the mark is displayed withinthe display surface, an area where the contents image is displayed isnarrowed by a display area of the mark. Since the display surface issmall particularly in mobile terminal devices, the narrowing of thedisplay area for a contents image is desired to be avoided as much aspossible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A first aspect of the present invention relates to a mobile terminaldevice. The mobile terminal device according to this aspect includes adisplay section having a display surface where a screen includinginformation is displayed, an accepting section which accepts a movingoperation for moving the screen, and a display control section whichcontrols the display section based on the moving operation. When themoving operation for moving an end of the screen inside an end of thedisplay surface is performed, the display control section controls thedisplay section so that the screen is deformed on the display surface ina direction of movement of the screen by the moving operation.

A second aspect of the present invention relates to a display method ofa mobile terminal device including a display section having a displaysurface for displaying a screen including information. The displaymethod according to this aspect includes the steps of accepting a movingoperation for moving the screen, and when the moving operation formoving an end of the screen inside an end of the display surface isperformed, deforming the screen in a direction of movement of the screenby the moving operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and new features of the present inventionwill be clear more completely by reading the following description ofpreferred embodiments with reference to the following accompanyingdrawings.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating an appearance constitution ofa mobile phone according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an entire constitution of themobile phone according to the embodiment;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating that partial images within adisplay region are extracted from a contents image and the partialimages are displayed on a display surface according to the embodiment;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating that partial images within thedisplay region are extracted from the contents image and the partialimages are displayed on the display surface according to the embodiment;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating a relationship between thecontents image and the display region according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for informingof arrival of an end according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for informingof the arrival of the end according to the embodiment;

FIGS. 8A to 8D are diagrams for describing a method for informing of thearrival of the end according to the embodiment;

FIGS. 9A to 9C are diagrams for describing a method for informing of thearrival of the end according to the embodiment;

FIGS. 10A to 10D are diagrams for describing a loop function forconnecting an upper end and a lower end of the contents image by meansof an operation of a loop mark according to the embodiment;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are diagrams for describing a function for displayinga preset portion of the contents image on the display surface after thearrival of the end of the contents image at the end of the displaysurface is informed according to the embodiment;

FIGS. 12A to 12E are diagrams for describing a method for informing thearrival of the end according to the embodiment; and

FIGS. 13A and 13B are diagrams for describing a method for informing ofthe arrival of the end according to the embodiment.

The drawings are, however, for the description, and do not limit thescope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below withreference to the drawings. FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating anappearance constitution of a mobile phone 1. FIGS. 1A and 1B are a frontview and a side view.

The mobile phone 1 has a cabinet 10 including a front surface and a rearsurface. The front surface of the cabinet 10 is provided with a touchpanel. The touch panel has a display 11 for displaying an image, and atouch sensor 12 that is overlapped on the display 11.

The display 11 corresponds to a display section. The display 11 iscomposed of a liquid crystal panel 11 a, and a panel backlight 11 b forilluminating the liquid crystal panel 11 a. The liquid crystal panel 11a has a display surface 11 c for displaying an image, and the displaysurface 11 c appears outside. The touch sensor 12 is arranged on thedisplay surface 11 c. Another display element such as an organic EL maybe used instead of the liquid crystal panel 11 a.

The touch sensor 12 is formed into a transparent sheet shape. Thedisplay surface 11 c is seen through the touch sensor 12. The touchsensor 12 has first transparent electrodes and second transparentelectrodes that are arranged into a matrix pattern, and a cover. Thetouch sensor 12 detects a change in a capacitance between the firsttransparent electrodes and the second transparent electrodes so as todetect a position on the display surface 11 c touched by a user(hereinafter, referred to as an “input position”), and outputs aposition signal according to the input position to a CPU 100, describedlater. The touch sensor 12 corresponds to an accepting section foraccepting a user's input into the first display surface 11 c. The touchsensor 12 is not limited to a capacitance touch sensor, and thus may bean ultrasonic touch sensor, a pressure-sensitive touch sensor, aresistive touch sensor, or a photo-detective touch sensor.

That the user touches the display surface 11 c means that, for example,the user touches, slides, and flicks the display surface 11 c using acontact member such as a pen, or a finger. Further, to touch the displaysurface 11 c actually means to touch a region, where an image on thedisplay surface 11 c is displayed, on the surface of the cover over thetouch sensor 12. “Slide” means an operation for continuously moving acontact member or a finger on the display surface 11 c performed by theuser. “Flick” means an operation for releasing the contact member or thefinger from the display surface 11 c quickly in a flicking mannerperformed by the user, namely, an operation for moving the contactmember or the finger by a short distance for a short time with thecontact member or the finger touching the display surface 11 c.

A microphone 13 and a speaker 14 are arranged on the front surface ofthe cabinet 10. The user captures a voice from the speaker 14 via user'sears, and makes a voice to the microphone 13 so as to do voicecommunication.

A lens window (not shown) of a camera module 15 (see FIG. 2) is arrangedon the rear surface of the cabinet 10. An image of a subject is capturedthrough the lens window into the camera module 15.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an entire constitution of themobile phone 1.

The mobile phone 1 according to the embodiment includes the abovecomponents, the CPU 100, a memory 200, a video encoder 301, a voiceencoder 302, a communication module 303, a backlight driving circuit304, a video decoder 305, a voice decoder 306, and a clock 307.

The camera module 15 includes a photographing section that has an imagepickup device such as a CCD, and photographs an image. The camera module15 digitalizes an imaging signal output from the image pickup device,and makes various corrections such as a gamma correction on the imagingsignal so as to output the signal to the video encoder 301. The videoencoder 301 executes an encoding process on the imaging signal from thecamera module 15 so as to output the signal to the CPU 100.

The microphone 13 converts the collected voices into a voice signal soas to output the signal to the voice encoder 302. The voice encoder 302converts the analog voice signal from the microphone 13 into a digitalvoice signal, and executes an encoding process on the digital voicesignal so as to output the signal to the CPU 100.

The communication module 303 converts information from the CPU 100 intoa radio signal, and transmits the signal to a base station via anantenna 303 a. Further, the communication module 303 converts the radiosignal received via the antenna 303 a into information so as to outputit to the CPU 100.

The backlight driving circuit 304 supplies a voltage signal according toa control signal from the CPU 100 to the panel backlight 11 b. The panelbacklight 11 b turns on by means of a voltage signal from the backlightdriving circuit 304, and illuminates the liquid crystal panel 11 a.

The video decoder 305 converts the video signal form the CPU 100 into ananalog or digital video signal that may be displayed on the liquidcrystal panel 11 a, and outputs the signal to the liquid crystal panel11 a. The liquid crystal panel 11 a displays an image according to thevideo signal on the display surface 11 c.

The voice decoder 306 executes a decoding process on the voice signalfrom the CPU 100 and sound signals of various alarm sounds such as aringtone or an alarm sound, and converts the signals into analog voicesignals so as to output them to the speaker 14. The speaker 14reproduces a voice and an alarm sound based on a voice signal and asound signal from the voice decoder 306.

The clock 307 counts time, and outputs a signal according to the countedtime to the CPU 100.

The memory 200 is a storage section including a ROM and a RAM. Thememory 200 stores control programs for giving control functions to theCPU 100. The control programs include a control program for informingthat an end of a contents image 400 displayed on the display 11 arrivesat the end of the display surface 11 c of the display 11.

The memory 200 stores data files therein. For example, the memory 200stores data files including information photographed by the cameramodule 15, data files including information captured from the outsidevia the communication module 303, and data files including informationinput via the touch sensor 12 by a user's operation, therein. Forexample, a data file having contact information includes informationsuch as names, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses, and these piecesof information are related to each other.

The memory 200 stores a position defining table therein. In the positiondefining table, positions of images displayed on the display surface 11c are related with contents corresponding to the images. The imagesinclude, for example, characters, and pictures such as icons andbuttons. The contents corresponding to the images include processesrelating to files and programs.

The memory 200 stores operation moving amount specifying informationtherein. As described later, when the user changes an input position bymeans of the slide operation or the flick operation, accordingly asshown in FIG. 3B, the contents image 400 moves with respect to a displayregion 402. A range of the image to be displayed on the display surface11 c is determined as the display region 402 for convenience of thedescription. The operation moving amount specifying information isinformation for specifying an operation moving amount W of the contentsimage 400 after a finger or the like is released from the displaysurface 11 c based on a distance moved by the input position in theslide operation or the flick operation for predetermined time before therelease (hereinafter, referred to as a “displacement distance IL of theinput position”).

For example, the operation moving amount specifying information is atable where the displacement distance IL of the input position isrelated with the operation moving amount W of the contents image 400.The operation moving amount specifying information may be an arithmeticexpression for calculating the operation moving amount W of the contentsimage 400 based on the displacement distance IL of the input position.

The predetermined time is suitably set. For example, time from previouscontrol timing to current control timing (hereinafter, simply referredto as “control timing interval”) is set as the predetermined time. Forexample, the operation moving amount W represents a distance by whichthe contents image 400 is moved with respect to the display region 402(hereinafter, referred to as “an operation moving distance WL”), basedon the user's slide operation or flick operation. Alternatively theoperation moving amount W represents a speed at which the contents image400 is moved (hereinafter, referred to as “an operation moving speedWS”), and time in which the contents image 400 is moved.

In the operation moving amount specifying information, as thedisplacement distance IL of the input position is larger, the operationmoving speed WS of the contents image 400 becomes higher, and theoperation moving distance WL is set to be longer. As a result, as theuser moves the finger touched on the display surface 11 c more quickly,the contents image 400 moves longer and more quickly.

The CPU 100 refers to the position defining table stored in the memory200 so as to specify information input by the user based on a positionsignal form the touch sensor 12. The CPU 100 operates the camera module15, the microphone 13, the communication module 303, the panel backlight11 b, the liquid crystal panel 11 a, and the speaker 14 based on theinput information according to the control program. As a result, variousapplications such as a telephone call function and a texting functionare executed.

The CPU 100 controls the display 11 as the display control section basedon the information or the like input by the user via the touch sensor12. For example, the CPU 100 outputs a control signal for supplying avoltage to the panel backlight 11 b to the backlight driving circuit 304so as to turn on the panel backlight 11 b. The CPU 100 outputs a videosignal to the video decoder 305, and displays an image on the displaysurface 11 c of the liquid crystal panel 11 a. On the other hand, theCPU 100 outputs a control signal for preventing supply of a voltage tothe panel backlight 11 b to the backlight driving circuit 304 so as toturn off the panel backlight 11 b. The CPU 100 further makes a controlso as to delete an image from the display surface 11 c of the liquidcrystal panel 11 a.

For example, the CPU 100 reads a data file from the memory 200, andgenerates the contents image 400 shown in FIG. 3B using information inthe data file. When the contents image 400 is larger than the displayregion 402 having a basic length H1, the CPU 100 extracts image portionswithin the display region 402 as partial images 401 from the contentsimage 400. As shown in FIG. 3A, the CPU 100 displays the extractedpartial images 401 on the display surface 11 c. The contents image 400and the partial images 401 as parts of the contents image 400 correspondto “an image including information” of the present invention. Theinformation includes pictures or characters. Examples of the picturesare paintings, figures, photographs, and icons. Examples of thecharacters are symbols, codes, and emblems representing languages andnumerics.

When the partial images 401 are enlarged to be displayed on the displaysurface 11 c, the CPU 100 sets a length Hx of the display region 402 toa smaller value than the basic length H1 as shown in FIG. 4B, forexample. The CPU 100 extracts the partial images 401 in the reduceddisplay region 402, and enlarges the extracted partial images 401 so asto display them on the display surface 11 c.

The length Hx and the basic length H1 of the display region 402 are alength between an upper end and a lower end of the display region 402.The length of the display region 402 represents a distance in a verticaldirection, and the vertical direction corresponds to the Y-axisdirection shown in the drawing.

At this time, the CPU 100 may change a magnification percentage ofimages within the partial images 401 according to positions in thepartial images 401. For example, the CPU 100 sets the magnificationpercentage of an image so that the magnification percentage becomesgradually smaller along a direction indicated by the Y axis (a lowerdirection in FIG. 4B). As a result, as shown in FIG. 4A, smaller imagesare displayed towards the lower direction, and thus the partial images401 are displayed so as to extend down from the upper end as a basepoint.

The partial images 401 are displayed on the display surface 11 c bymapping image data of the partial images 401 in an image memory forimage display. A memory region according to the basic length H1 is setin the image memory, and the images mapped in this memory region aredisplayed on the display surface 11 c. The image data of the contentsimage 400 shown in FIG. 3B are developed in the memory 200 in a statethat they are arranged in one direction as shown in FIG. 3B.Predetermined regions are cut from the image data developed in such amanner, and the cut image data are mapped in the memory region of theimage memory. The image memory is also set in the memory 200.

In a case of display with a normal magnification, the image data of thepartial images 401 with the basic length H1 are cut from the image dataof the contents image 400, and the cut image data are mapped in thememory region of the image memory.

In a case of enlarged display, image data of the partial images 401 witha length shorter than the basic length H1, for example, the length Hxare cut from the image data of the contents image 400, and the cut imagedata are mapped in the memory region of the image memory. In this case,since a size of the cut image data is smaller than a size of the memoryregion of the image memory, the image data of each line in an X-axisdirection in FIG. 4B is mapped repeatedly in the memory region. Thenumber of repeating times at each line is adjusted, so that smallerimages are displayed downwards as shown in FIG. 4A, and the partialimages 401 are displayed so as to extend down from the upper end as thebase point.

As described later, the partial images 401 to be displayed on thedisplay surface 11 c change according to the slide operation or theflick operation. This occurs due to a change in the cut regions of theimage data of the partial images 401 with respect to the image data ofthe contents image 400.

The partial images 401 are displayed on the display surface 11 c bymapping the image data in the image memory. For convenience of thedescription, the display control of the partial images 401 with respectto the display surface 11 c is described below by using not the imagedata but the contents image 400, the partial images 401 and the displayregion 402.

The CPU 100 makes a control so that the partial images 401 displayed onthe display surface 11 c are moved according to information input by theuser via the touch sensor 12.

Concretely, when the slide operation or the flick operation isperformed, the CPU 100 receives signals from the clock 307 and the touchsensor 12, and specifies an input position on the touch sensor 12 basedon the signals so as to obtain the displacement distance IL of the inputposition in the Y-axis direction at the control timing interval. The CPU100 specifies the operation moving distance WL of the contents image 400at the control timing interval based on the displacement distance IL.

For example, the CPU 100 sets the displacement distance IL of the inputposition to the operation moving distance WL of the contents image 400while the user's finger touches the display surface 11 c in the slideoperation or the flick operation. Further, after the user's finger isreleased from the display surface 11 c after the slide operation or inthe flick operation, the CPU 100 specifies the operation moving distanceWL according to the displacement distance IL of the input positionbefore the release based on the operation moving amount specifyinginformation in the memory 200.

When the input position displaces to the same direction as the Y-axisdirection shown in FIG. 3B, the operation moving direction is set to thesame direction as the Y-axis direction. As a result, when thedisplacement direction of the input position is the Y-axis direction,the partial images 401 move to the Y-axis direction with respect to thedisplay region 402.

The CPU 100 determines a positional relationship between the contentsimage 400 and the display region 402. When a width of the contents image400 is equal to a width of the display region 402 as shown in FIG. 3B,the CPU 100 obtains an interval h between the upper end of the contentsimage 400 and the upper end of the display region 402. The widthsindicate distances in a lateral direction, and the lateral directioncorresponds to the X-axis direction shown in the drawing.

When the interval h is 0 as shown in FIG. 5A, the CPU 100 determinesthat the upper end of the contents image 400 matches with the upper endof the display region 402. When the interval h is H2-H1 as shown in FIG.5B, the CPU 100 determines that the lower end of the contents image 400matches with the lower end of the display region 402. Note that, H2indicates a length from the upper end to the lower end of the contentsimage 400.

Processing Procedure in First Embodiment

FIGS. 6 and 7 are flowcharts illustrating a processing procedure fordisplaying an image generated by using information in the data file.FIGS. 8A to 8D and FIGS. 9A to 9C are diagrams where a contact list isdisplayed on the display surface 11 c.

When the user performs an operation for opening the data file of thecontact information, the CPU 100 reads the data file of the contactinformation from the memory 200. The CPU 100 generates a contents image400 of a contact list including the contact information using theinformation in the data file (S101).

As shown in FIG. 5A, the CPU 100 sets the interval h between the upperend of the contents image 400 and the upper end of the display region402 to “0” as an initial value. Further, the CPU 100 sets the length ofthe display region 402 to the basic length H1. The CPU 100 extracts thepartial images 401 in the display region 402 from the contents image400, and displays the partial images 401 on the display surface 11 c(S102) as shown in FIG. 8A. As a result, images from DATA1 to DATA4 atthe top of the contact list are displayed on the display surface 11 c.

When the user touches the display surface 11 c with a finger, the CPU100 specifies an input position based on a position signal from thetouch sensor 12. When the user moves the finger, the CPU 100 determinesthat the input position changes (YES at S103).

When the finger is slid up while touching the display surface 11 c asshown in FIG. 8A, the CPU 100 obtains a displacement distance IL:Dy1 inthe Y-axis direction of the input position at the control timinginterval (S104).

When the position signal is input from the touch sensor 12 here, the CPU100 determines that the finger is not released from the display surface11 c (NO at S105).

The CPU 100 obtains an operation moving distance WL:Dy1 of the contentsimage 400 based on the displacement distance IL:Dy1 (S106). The CPU 100determines a displacement direction of the input position as a movingdirection of the contents image 400. At this time, since thedisplacement direction of the input position is opposite to a directionindicated by the Y axis, the moving direction of the contents image 400is also opposite to the direction indicated by the Y axis. The userperforms an operation so that the contents image 400 moves on thedisplay region 402 to the direction opposite to the direction indicatedby the Y axis, namely, to an upper direction by the operation movingdistance WL.

The CPU 100 determines whether the end of the contents image 400 isgoing to be moved inside the end of the display region 402, namely, theend of the display surface 11 c by the user's moving operation formoving the part of the contents image 400 displayed on the displaysurface 11 c (S107). For this reason, the CPU 100 adds the operationmoving distance WL:Dy1 to a current interval h:0 so as to obtain aninterval after moving h:Dy1. The CPU 100 determines whether the intervalafter moving h:Dy1 is such that “0≦Dy1≦H2−H1”. In this case, theinterval after moving h:Dy1 is such that “0≦Dy1≦H2−H1”. For this reason,even when the contents image 400 is moved with respect to the displayregion 402 according to the operation moving distance WL:Dy1, the end ofthe content image 400 does not arrives at the end of the display region402. Therefore, the CPU 100 determines that the end of the contentsimage 400 is not going to move inside the end of the display region 402(NO at S107).

Therefore, the CPU 100 moves the contents image 400 down with respect tothe display region 402 by the operation moving distance WL:Dy1, and setsthe interval h:Dy1. The CPU 100 extracts the partial images 401 from thecontents image 400 in the display region 402 after moving, and displaysthe partial images 401 on the display surface 11 c (S108). As a result,the contents image 400 is moved up and displayed on the display surface11 c according to the moving-up of the finger on the display surface 11c by the user.

When the user performs the slide operation, the CPU 100 repeats theprocess from step S103 to step S108 at each control timing while thefinger touches the touch sensor 12. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8B,the contents image 400 moves up on the display region 402 according tothe slide operation for moving the finger up, and images DATA5 to 7 thatare hidden under the lower end of the display surface 11 c are displayedon the display surface 11 c.

As shown in FIG. 8C, in a state that the interval h is set to “0” andthe upper end of the contents image 400 matches with the upper end ofthe display region 402, when the user slides the finger down along thedisplay surface 11 c with the finger touching the display surface 11 c,the CPU 100 detects a change in the input position (YES at S103). TheCPU 100 obtains a displacement distance IL:Dy2 of the input position atthe control timing interval (S104).

Since the finger is not released from the display surface 11 c, the CPU100 determines that the release operation is not performed (S105).

The CPU 100 obtains the operation moving distance WL:Dy2 based on thedisplacement distance IL:Dy2 (S107). In this case, since the inputposition displaces to the same direction as the direction indicated bythe Y axis, the CPU 100 subtracts the operation moving distance WL:Dy2from the interval h before moving so as to obtain an interval h:0-Dy2after moving. Since the interval h after moving is 0 or less, the CPU100 determines that the end of the contents image 400 is going to moveinside the end of the display region 402 (YES at S107).

As shown in FIG. 4B, the CPU 100 reduces the length of the displayregion 402 from the basic length H1 by the operation moving distanceWL:Dy2, and sets the length of the display region 402 to Hx:H1-WL. TheCPU 100 extracts the partial images 401 in the reduced display region402 from the contents image 400, and displays the extracted partialimages 401 on the display surface 11 c. As a result, the partial images401 are enlarged by the operation moving distance WL and are displayed.

At this time, the CPU 100 sets an enlargement percentage of the partialimages 401 so that the partial images 401 closer to the upper end havelarger values. As a result, the partial images 401 are displayed so asto be extended from the upper end of the display surface 11 c (S109).

The CPU 100 determines whether the finger is released from the displaysurface 11 c (S110). When the finger is not released, the CPU 100determines that the release operation is not performed (NO at S110). Asa result, the process at step S103 is again executed. When the usercontinues to slide the finger down on the display surface 11 c, theinput position displaces (YES at S103). The CPU 100 obtains adisplacement distance IL:Dy3 of the input position (S104), anddetermines that the release operation is not performed (NO at S105). TheCPU 100 obtains the operation moving distance WL:Dy3 based on thedisplacement distance IL (S106), and determines that the end of thecontents image 400 is going to move inside the end of the display region402 (NO at S107). The length of the display region 402 Hx:H1-Dy2 is set,and the size of the display region 402 is reduced. For this reason, theCPU 100 reduces the length of the display region 402 from the lengthHx:H1-Dy2 of the reduced display region 402 by the operation movingdistance WL:Dy3, and sets the length Hx of the display region 402 toH1-Dy2-Dy3. The CPU 100 extracts the partial images 401 in the furtherreduced display region 402 from the contents image 400 so as to displaythe partial images 401 on the display surface 11 c. As a result, thepartial images 401 are further enlarged to be displayed.

After the partial images 401 are enlarged, the CPU 100 repeats theprocess from S103 to S107 and S109 until the finger is released. As aresult, since the display region 402 is gradually reduced as the fingermoves on the display surface 11 c, the partial images 401 are graduallyextended. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8D, the extended partial images401 are displayed.

On the other hand, when the finger is released from the display surface11 c after the slide operation, while gradually changing the length Hxof the display region 402 to the basic length H1, the CPU 100 displaysthe partial images 401 on the display surface 11 c (S111). As a result,the partial images 401 shrink to be displayed.

As shown in FIG. 9A, when the user slides the finger down with thefinger touching the display surface 11 c, the CPU 100 detects a changein the input position (YES at S103), and obtains the displacementdistance IL:Dyn of the input position (S104). When the user releases thefinger from the display surface 11 c after the slide operation, aposition signal is not input from the touch sensor 12, and the CPU 100determines that the finger is released from the display surface 11 c(YES at S105).

The CPU 100 obtains the operation moving speed WS and the operationmoving distance WL:yn according to the displacement distance IL:Dyn ofthe input position just before the release based on the operation movingamount specifying information (S112). As a result, the contents image400 moves at the operation moving speed WS while the contents image 400moved by the operation moving distance WL:yn after the finger isreleased.

The CPU 100 subtracts the operation moving distance WL:yn from theinterval h:hn before moving so as to obtain the interval after movingh:hn-yn. The CPU 100 determines whether the interval after moving h isbetween “0” and “H1-H2” (S113). When the interval after moving h isbetween “0” and “H1-H2”, similarly to the above, the CPU 100 determinesthat the end of the contents image 400 is not going to move inside theend of the display region 402 (NO at S113). The CPU 100 moves thecontents image 400 by the operation moving distance WL, and extracts thepartial images 401 in the display region 402 after moving so as todisplay the partial images 401 on the display surface 11 c (S114). TheCPU 100 returns to the process at step S103.

On the other hand, when the interval after moving h is not between “0”and “H1-H2”, the CPU 100 determines that the end of the contents image400 is going to move inside the end of the display region 402 (YES atS113).

While moving the contents image 400 to the end of the display region 402at the operation moving speed WS, the CPU 100 displays the partialimages 401 on the display surface 11 c (S115). As a result, the partialimages 401 move by the interval h:hn, and the upper end of the displayregion 402 arrives at the upper end of the contents image 400.

Even when the upper end of the display region 402 arrives at the upperend of the contents image 400, the operation moving distance WL of“yn-hn” remains. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9B, since the CPU 100informs that the end of the contents image 400 arrives at the end of thedisplay region 402, the CPU 100 processes the images.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the CPU 100 gradually reduces the length Hx of thedisplay region 402 from the basic length H1 by the operation movingdistance WL:yn-hn. The CPU 100 extracts the partial images 401 in thereduced display region 402 from the contents image 400, and displays thepartial images 401 on the display surface 11 c (S116). As a result, thepartial images 401 are gradually enlarged according to the operationmoving distance WL so as to be displayed. For this reason, the partialimages 401 are gradually extended so as to be displayed on the displaysurface 11 c. The enlargement percentages of the partial images 401 isset so as to be larger on regions closer to the upper end of the partialimages 401. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9B, the partial images 401 areextended down from the upper end as the basic point so as to bedisplayed.

After the length Hx of the display region 402 arrives at “H1-(yn-hn)”and the partial images 401 are enlarged, the CPU 100 gradually changesthe length Hx of the display region 402 from “H1-(yn-hn)” to 0. The CPU100 restores the size of the display region 402 and simultaneouslydisplays the partial images 401 on the display surface 11 c (S111). As aresult, the partial images 401 are displayed so as to be reduced towardsthe upper end of the display surface 11 c. As shown in FIG. 9C, thepartial images 401 are restored to their original sizes.

The user may flick the display surface 11 c down so as to move thepartial images 401. In the flick operation, the time from the finger'stouch on the display surface 11 c to the release, and the displacementdistance IL of the input position are very shorter than the time and thedisplacement distance IL of the input position in the slide operation.However, similarly to the process in the slide operation, the operationmoving distance WL is obtained based on the displacement distance IL ofthe input position between the finger's touch to the release on/from thedisplay surface 11 c, and the contents image 400 are moved according tothe operation moving distance WL. After the finger is released from thedisplay surface 11 c, the operation moving distance WL is obtained basedon the displacement distance IL of the input position just beforerelease, and the contents image 400 is moved according to the operationmoving distance WL.

According to this embodiment, when the user performs the movingoperation for moving the end of the contents image 400 inside the end ofthe display surface 11 c, the partial images 401 are displayed in aextendable manner. For this reason, the user understands that the end ofthe contents image 400 arrives at the end of the display surface 11 c,and a user's input is accepted.

According to this embodiment, the partial images 401 are extended largertowards the end, so that the user easily understands a position of theend of the partial images 401.

According to this embodiment, the partial images 401 are extended largeras a manipulated variable of the moving operation (the displacementdistance IL, the operation moving distance WL) is larger. An extensionamount of the images to be displayed on the display surface 11 c changesaccording to the user's manipulated variable, so that the userunderstands more easily that the input is accepted.

According to this embodiment, since the sizes of the enlarged partialimages 401 are restored to their original sizes, the user easilyunderstands that the informing that the end of the contents image 400arrives at the end of the display surface 11 c is completed.

Further, according to this embodiment, a mark or the like for informingthat the end of the contents image 400 arrives at the end of the displaysurface 11 c is not displayed on the display surface 11 c. For thisreason, an area on the display surface 11 c where the contents image 400is displayed is prevented from becoming narrow due to the mark forinforming about the arrival.

Other Embodiments

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, butthe present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and theembodiment of the present invention may be variously modified.

For example, after the CPU 100 informs that the end of the contentsimage 400 arrives at the end of the display surface 11 c, as shown inFIG. 10A, an image of a loop mark M for making the contents image 400into a loop shape may be displayed. When the loop mark M is touched bythe user's finger, the upper end and the lower end of the contents image400 are connected. As a result, when the upper end of the contents image400 is moved inside the upper end of the display surface 11 c, as shownin FIG. 10B, the CPU 100 makes a control so that the partial images 401such that the lower end of the contents image 400 continues to the upperend of the content image 400 are displayed on the display surface 11 c.As a result, after arriving at the upper end of the contents image 400,the lower end of the contents image 400 may be displayed easily. Asshown in FIG. 10C, when the lower end of the contents image 400 arrivesat the lower end of the display surface 11 c, similarly the loop mark Mis displayed on the display surface 11 c. When after the loop mark M istouched, the lower end of the contents image 400 is moved inside thelower end of the display surface 11 c, as shown in FIG. 10D, the CPU 100makes a control so that the partial images 401 such that the upper endof the contents image 400 continues to the lower end of the contentsimage 400 are displayed on the display surface 11 c.

A part of the contents image 400 to be displayed on the display surface11 c after the arrival of the end of the contents image 400 at the endof the display surface 11 c is informed may be preset. For example, whenthe CPU 100 sequentially repeats the operation for extending andcontracting the partial images 401, if the number of repetition times iscounted and the number of repetition times exceeds a predeterminednumber of times, the partial images 401 as set portions of the contentsimage 400 are displayed on the display surface 11 c. For example, afterthe partial images 401 are extended and contracted in a state that thepartial images 401 denoted by DATA1 to 4 shown in FIG. 11A are displayedon the display surface 11 c, the partial images 401 denoted by DATA6 to9 shown in FIG. 11B are displayed on the display surface 11 c. Theportions to be moved may be preset by the user. Portions that aredisplayed for predetermined time or more as the partial images 401before the end of the contents image 400 arrives at the end of thedisplay surface 11 c may be set as portions to be displayed.

In this embodiment, when the end of the contents image 400 arrives atthe end of the display surface 11 c, namely, the end of the displayregion 402 and the operation moving distance WL remains, the end of thecontents image 400 moves to the end of the display region 402, and thenthe partial images 401 are enlarged according to the residual operationmoving distance WL. On the contrary, even when the operation movingdistance WL remains at the time when the end of the contents image 400arrives at the end of the display region 402, in the operation at thattime, the partial images 401 may be set not to be enlarged based on theresidual operation moving distance WL. As a result, when the end of thecontents image 400 arrives at the end of the display region 402, thepartial images 401 are once paused to be displayed. When the slideoperation or the flick operation is again performed in a state that theend of the contents image 400 matches with the end of the display region402, and the end of the contents image 400 is moved inside the end ofthe display region 402, the partial images 401 are enlarged according tothe operation moving distance WL.

The above embodiment describes the case where the width of the contentsimage 400 is equal to the width of the display region 402, and thecontents image 400 is moved with respect to the display region 402 onlyin the Y-axis direction. On the contrary, as shown in FIG. 12A, when thesize of the contents image 400 is larger than the size of the displayregion 402 in both the X-axis and Y-axis directions, the contents image400 may be moved with respect to the display region 402 in the X-axisand Y-axis directions. As shown in FIG. 12B, the upper end and a leftend of the contents image 400 match with the upper end and a left end ofthe display region 402, respectively. When the user moves the fingerdown on the display surface 11 c in this state, as shown in FIG. 12C,the partial images 401 are enlarged in the Y-axis direction shown in thedrawing so as to be displayed. When the finger is slid right on thedisplay surface 11 c, as shown in FIG. 12D, the partial images 401 areenlarged in the X-axis direction shown in the drawing so as to bedisplayed. When the finger is further slid to a right-down direction onthe display surface 11 c, as shown in FIG. 12E, the partial images 401are enlarged to both the X-axis and Y-axis directions shown in thedrawing so as to be displayed. When the finger is released from thedisplay surface 11 c, the enlarged images are restored to their originalsizes as shown in FIG. 12B. As a result, the user is informed that theend of the contents image 400 in the Y-axis and X-axis directionsarrives at the end of the display surface 11 c.

In the above embodiment, all the partial images 401 are enlarged, butsome of the partial images 401 may be enlarged. For example, the partialimages 401 may be enlarged from the end to a position on the displaysurface 11 c touched by the user.

In the above embodiment, the partial images 401 are enlarged so thattheir enlargement percentages are larger on positions closer to the end.On the contrary, the enlargement percentages of the partial images 401may be uniform.

In the above embodiment, when the end of the contents image 400 is movedinside the end of the display surface 11 c, the partial images 401 aredeformed to be extended. On the contrary, as shown in FIG. 13A, when theend of the contents image 400 is further moved inside in the state thatthe end of the contents image 400 arrives at the end of the displaysurface 11 c, the partial images 401 are deformed to contract as shownin FIG. 13B. In this case, the length Hx of the display region 402 shownin FIG. 4B is set to be longer than the basic length H1. For thisreason, when the partial images 401 in the lengthened display region 402are extracted, the partial images 401 are contracted to be displayed onthe display surface 11 c. When the partial images 401 contract in such amanner, the contents image 400 that is not displayed on the displaysurface 11 c until now is displayed. As a result, the user understandsthat the end of the contents image 400 arrives at the end of the displaysurface 11 c and the user's input is accepted.

In the above embodiment, the partial images 401 extend and then contractto their original size so as to be displayed. On the contrary, thepartial images 401 may extend and then contract to be smaller than theoriginal sizes, and further extend to the original sizes so as to bedisplayed.

In the above embodiment, the operation moving distance WL along whichthe contents image 400 moves is obtained based on the displacementdistance IL of the input position. On the contrary, the operation movingdistance WL may be obtained based on the speed at which the inputposition displaces.

In the above embodiment, when the end of the contents image 400 is movedinside the end of the display surface 11 c, the contents image 400extends to a moving direction of the content image 400 from the end ofthe contents image 400 as the basic point according to the movingoperation. On the contrary, when such a moving operation is performed,while the end of the contents image 400 is moving to the direction ofthe moving operation, the contents image 400 may extend to the directionof the moving operation.

Further, in the above embodiment, when the size of the contents image400 is larger than the size of the display region 402, namely, the sizeof the display surface 11 c, the contents image 400 moves with respectto the display region 402. When the end of the content image 400 arrivesat the end of the display region 402, the partial images 401 areenlarged to be displayed. On the contrary, also when the size of thecontents image 400 is the same as the size of the display region 402,namely, the size of the display surface 11 c, the process similar to theabove may be executed. In this case, since the end of the contents image400 matches with the end of the display region 402, when the userperforms the moving operation, the contents image 400 does not move withrespect to the display region 402, and the partial images 401 areenlarged to be displayed.

In the above embodiment, the mobile phone 1 is used, but mobile terminaldevices such as PDA and PHS may be used.

The embodiment of the present invention may be modified variously andsuitably within the scope of the technical idea described in claims. Forexample, some parts or all parts in the embodiment may be combined.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile terminal device, comprising: a displaymodule having a display surface for displaying an image; an acceptingmodule which accepts a moving operation for moving the image; and adisplay control module which controls the display module based on themoving operation, wherein, when the moving operation is performed tomove a non-end portion of the image from an edge of the display surfaceto inside the display surface, the display control module controls thedisplay module to move the image, and wherein, when the moving operationis performed to move an end of the image from an edge of the displaysurface to inside the display surface, the display control modulecontrols the display module to reduce a size of at least a portion ofthe image.
 2. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1, whereinthe display control module controls the display module to reduce thesize of the at least a portion of the image in a moving direction of theimage by the moving operation.
 3. A mobile terminal device comprising: adisplay module having a display surface for displaying an image; anaccepting module which accepts a moving operation for moving the image;and a display control module which controls the display module based onthe moving operation, wherein the image has a larger size than that ofthe display surface, and wherein, when the moving operation to move anend of the image inside the display surface is performed in a state thata part of the image is displayed on the display surface and the end ofthe image is displayed, the display control module controls the displaymodule to reduce a size of at least a portion of the image.
 4. Themobile terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the display controlmodule controls the display module to reduce the size of the at least aportion of the image in a moving direction of the image by the movingoperation.
 5. A display method of a mobile terminal device including adisplay module having a display surface for displaying an image, themethod comprising: accepting a moving operation for moving the image;when the moving operation is to move a non-end portion of the image froman edge of the display surface to inside the display surface,controlling the display module to move the image; and, when the movingoperation is to move an end of the image from an edge of the displaysurface to inside the display surface, controlling the display module toreduce a size of at least a portion of the image.
 6. A display method ofthe mobile terminal device including a display module having a displaysurface for displaying an image, the method comprising: a first step ofaccepting a moving operation for moving the image, wherein the image hasa larger size than that of the display surface; and a second step ofcontrolling the display module to reduce a size of at least a portion ofthe image when the moving operation for moving an end of the imageinside the display surface is accepted in a state that a part of theimage is displayed on the display surface and the end of the image isdisplayed.
 7. The display method according to claim 6, wherein the sizeof the at least a portion of the image is reduced in a moving directionof the image by the moving operation.